Zimmerman lifts Nats over Cubs

CHICAGO — Ryan Zimmerman hit two home runs off a shaky Jon Lester and tied a ca­reer high with six RBIs, send­ing the Wash­ing­ton Na­tion­als over the Chicago Cubs 9-4 on Satur­day.

Zimmerman hit a two-run homer in the first in­ning, had a sacri­fice fly to the warn­ing track in the third and chased Lester with a three-run drive in the fourth that made it 9-1. He is bat­ting .355 (16-for-45) with four homers and 16 RBIs in 14 games since re­turn­ing from the dis­abled list last month.

Daniel Mur­phy also home­red and had three hits, help­ing Tan­ner Roark win his fourth straight start.

Mike Mous­takas hit a tworun dou­ble in the eighth in­ning, Josh Hader recorded a two-in­ning save, and Mil­wau­kee ral­lied to win at At­lanta. Mil­wau­kee snapped a two-game skid and pulled within two games of the NL Cen­tral lead.

Tyler Austin hit a two-run homer in his Min­nesota de­but, help­ing the Twins beat host Detroit. Austin was ac­quired in the July 30 trade that sent Lance Lynn to the New York Yan­kees. He was re­called from Class AAA Rochester on Fri­day.

Rain pour­ing off his hat, Aroldis Chap­man struck out Jurick­son Pro­far with the bases loaded in a steady storm to end the game, pre­serv­ing New York’s win over vis­it­ing Texas.

David Price struck out 10 over six sparkling in­nings, Jackie Bradley Jr. hit two solo homers, and Bos­ton beat host Bal­ti­more in the opener of a split dou­ble­header.

Trevor Bauer pitched two-hit ball into the sev­enth in­ning be­fore get­ting struck in the right leg by a line drive, and Michael Brant­ley and Jose Ramirez hit back-to-back home runs to lift Cleve­land to a vic­tory at Chicago.

Jack Fla­herty struck out nine in seven in­nings, and St. Louis beat host Kansas City for its fourth con­sec­u­tive vic­tory.